candy
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2007
- Messages
- 72
I'm a bit shell-shocked and am hoping that someone with a legal or HR background will see this and help shed some light.
I work as an independent consultant (contractor) and am 5 months pregnant. Despite the fact that I'm not a W-2 employee, I've held the same position for 10 years and my job has always seemed more stable than most. I told my boss teo months ago that I'm pregnant and planned a 6 week maternity leave, and I had his full support.
Fast forward 2 months. My department is in the midst of a reorg, but I was not too worried about my job until today. I had a meeting with my new boss and she started by saying to me, "I understand you're expecting, and some people here have concerns with that." I was so shocked and, rather than ask what she meant, I just assured her that I had a plan in place and would definitely be returning. The rest of our meeting was positive.
But I left the meeting and burst into tears. I know that major changes are coming to my department, and now I feel that I'm at risk just because I'm pregnant. I reached out to others in the company for advice and was told to contact HR immediately. (One person who gave this advice is the company's Assistant General Counsel -- and this is one of the largest companies in the world, not some mom and pop shop.)
But, the more I think about it, I'm not an employee and I don't have any rights. They can just end my contract for any reason they want, right? (I'm in the state of PA, if it matters.) This is my worst fear come true and I honestly have no clue how to proceed. I don't want to make waves by going to HR if it will result in a dead end, and wonder if I should just suck it up and see what happens.
Any words of wisdom??
I work as an independent consultant (contractor) and am 5 months pregnant. Despite the fact that I'm not a W-2 employee, I've held the same position for 10 years and my job has always seemed more stable than most. I told my boss teo months ago that I'm pregnant and planned a 6 week maternity leave, and I had his full support.
Fast forward 2 months. My department is in the midst of a reorg, but I was not too worried about my job until today. I had a meeting with my new boss and she started by saying to me, "I understand you're expecting, and some people here have concerns with that." I was so shocked and, rather than ask what she meant, I just assured her that I had a plan in place and would definitely be returning. The rest of our meeting was positive.
But I left the meeting and burst into tears. I know that major changes are coming to my department, and now I feel that I'm at risk just because I'm pregnant. I reached out to others in the company for advice and was told to contact HR immediately. (One person who gave this advice is the company's Assistant General Counsel -- and this is one of the largest companies in the world, not some mom and pop shop.)
But, the more I think about it, I'm not an employee and I don't have any rights. They can just end my contract for any reason they want, right? (I'm in the state of PA, if it matters.) This is my worst fear come true and I honestly have no clue how to proceed. I don't want to make waves by going to HR if it will result in a dead end, and wonder if I should just suck it up and see what happens.
Any words of wisdom??